| Dublin fail to shine By
David Thorpe
There was something old, something new, something borrowed and something
Blue at Croke Park on Saturday evening as Tyrone edged out Dublin in the
first game to be played under floodlights at GAA Headquarters.
The new was the novelty of playing a game under lights and the new faces
which distinguished themselves Diarmuid Connolly chipping in with three
points for Dublin while Colm Cavanagh was excellent on his debut for the
Ulstermen.
Something old was Dublin repeating their recent habit of folding in the
second-half after working tirelessly to amass a lead in the first period.
They were 0-7 to 0-2 ahead at the break but stood helpless as Tyrone pushed
past them in the second-half period.
The something borrowed was the high-ball into the square — a tactic
which both teams deployed for long periods of the match. That will have
been a relief to most of the capacity crowd as there was little creative
play in the congested midfield where both sides gave priority to their
defensive duties.
And the something blue well the faces on the Dublin supporters at the
end of this first-round game spoke for themselves.
It all started brightly for the Metropolitans though. Superior forward
play saw Dublin 0-7 to 0-2 ahead at half-time with Tyrone failing to score
from play in the entire first-half. Alan Brogan was the outstanding creative
attacker for Dublin while in Connolly they have found a reliable free
taker.
Tyrone were a team transformed after the break however with Sean Cavanagh
driving forward from midfield and Owen Mulligan hitting four points as
the Ulstermen produced as good a 30 minutes of football as you are likely
to see in the National League.
The introduction of Colm McCullagh and Kevin Hughes at the start of the
second-half was crucial for Tyrone. The experienced duo knew their jobs
and helped to ensure that the Red Hand County won the midfield battle.
This was one of the few National League matches to be played at Championship
pace over the weekend. Occasionally error-strewn and frequently poor in
quality it was nevertheless entertaining and while Tyrone missed a lot
of chances in the second-half they were well worth their victory.
Tyrone boss Mickey Harte claimed that his team were always confident of
victory even when trailing at half-time.
He said: “It’s always going to be a one or two-point game
when we face Dublin. We felt they worked a lot harder than us in the first-half
but didn’t kill us off, they used more energy than us at the start
of the game so when we raised it in the second-half they couldn’t
live with us.”
A festive atmosphere surrounded the tie with the players warming up in
the dark before the lights were officially turned on at Croke Park for
the very first time in front of 81,500 supporters.
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